The only place for true bibliophiles any Labor Day Weekend is the Decatur Book Festival which hosts over 600 authors and is one of the largest independent book festivals in the country.
It was a thrill to be among the 85,000 who attended the event this year. With so many great authors appearing, the logistics of seeing them all was challenging so I decided to stick to the children’s area where so many of my favorites were meeting their fans and autographing books.
Our first event was Jedi Council with Tony Diterlizzi and Tom Angleberger (pictured below), authors of two very popular series, The Spiderwick Chronicles and Origami Yoda. The audience enjoyed a folding lesson from Tom Angleberger and made origami Luke Skywalkers. Tony Diterlizzi’s excitement over his upcoming adaptation of the original Star Wars Trilogy was obvious as he revealed scenes from the book’s trailer produced by Lucasfilm. (Look for The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight to be appearing soon in the FCPL catalog.) Tony's seven-year-old daughter Sophia helped her dad out by signing books and postcards along side him.
The next panel included FCPL celebrities Jennifer L. Holm, the author of Baby Mouse, Stick Dog creator Tom Watson, Magician Mike Lane and award-winning author Jon Scieszka.
Jon Scieszka, donned a fluffy white wig to promote his newest book, Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor. Mike Lane, coauthor of the Magic Shop series entertained the crowd with magic tricks while Tom Watson taught us to draw Stick Dog.
The highlight of the event for me was meeting so many well-known authors and heading home with my backpack full of autographed books. For the younger fans it seemed that the best part of the event was meeting Pete the Cat in person.
Alicia Cavitt
Information Specialist
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